We're just weeks away from this year's dyno challenge to be held at the Comp Cams facility in Memphis, Tennessee, and we are eager to see how much power this year's 500-inch wedge engines can make. Will the wedges out perform the Hemis? the engines will be judged from 3,000 to 7,000 rpm, a range most of us at Mopar Muscle feel will favor the wedges. But it's hard to beat Hemi power, so let's review the numbers from last year's challenge.

SuperFlow Dyno Results

Engine RPM

Corrected HP

Corrected TQ

3,000

324.0

548.9

3,500

356.6

535.1

4,000

380.0

498.9

4,500

476.5

556.2

5,000

580.7

609.9

5,100

592.4

610.1

5,200

605.2

611.3

5,300

620.1

614.5

5,400

633.2

615.8

5,500

643.1

614.1

5,600

650.7

610.3

5,700

657.1

605.5

5,800

665.5

602.7

5,900

674.6

600.5

6,000

682.3

597.2

6,100

688.7

593.0

6,200

694.4

588.2

6,300

703.6

586.6

6,400

713.9

585.8

6,500

723.6

584.6

6,600

728.2

579.4

6,700

724.4

567.8

6,800

696.8

538.2

6,900

629.3

479.0

7,000

626.2

468.2

Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1344.0

4/11<strong>Speed-O-Motive</strong><br />August Cedarstrand of Speed-O-Motive tuned his Hemi to a second place tie when we factored the combined horsepower and torque of his entry in last year's challenge. Speed-O-Motive's B-1 headed wedge entry in this year's challenge should post impressive numbers as well.

Speed-O-Motive

SuperFlow Dyno Results

Engine RPM

Corrected HP

Corrected TQ

3,000

283.3

495.9

3,500

345.6

518.6

4,000

378.5

497.0

4,500

481.8

562.3

5,000

589.1

618.8

5,100

600.0

617.9

5,200

611.6

617.2

5,300

623.0

617.4

5,400

634.4

617.1

5,500

645.9

616.8

5,600

657.8

617.0

5,700

667.2

614.7

5,800

675.4

611.6

5,900

682.9

607.9

6,000

689.6

603.7

6,100

694.5

598.0

6,200

700.4

593.3

6,300

706.0

588.6

6,400

711.5

583.9

6,500

716.2

578.7

6,600

720.1

573.0

6,700

721.8

565.8

6,800

721.4

557.2

6,900

722.6

550.0

7,000

722.2

541.9

Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1341.4

5/11<strong>Hemi's Only</strong><br />Larry Shepard of Hemi's Only made an impressive showing when his cross-ram-equipped engine tied the Speed-O-Motive entry for the second highest combined horsepower and torque of last year's challenge.

Hemi's Only

SuperFlow Dyno Results

Engine RPM

Corrected HP

Corrected TQ

3,000

328.2

556.0

3,500

377.3

566.1

4,000

423.1

555.6

4,500

523.0

610.4

5,000

608.7

639.6

5,100

618.2

636.6

5,200

627.6

633.9

5,300

637.4

631.6

5,400

645.5

627.8

5,500

654.0

624.5

5,600

661.9

620.8

5,700

669.2

616.6

5,800

675.8

611.9

5,900

682.1

607.2

6,000

688.9

603.0

6,100

694.3

597.8

6,200

697.8

591.1

6,300

699.9

583.4

6,400

699.9

583.4

6,500

700.1

565.7

6,600

701.8

558.5

6,700

701.4

549.8

6,800

699.9

540.6

6,900

693.6

527.9

7,000

687.5

515.8

Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1341.4

6/11<strong>Lofgren Auto Specialties</strong><br />Last year's winner was Lofgren Auto Specialties, who made great power and torque with economical parts to clinch the Hemi challenge. This was the only entry last year to use factory cylinder heads, proving that engine building is more about the combination than the individual parts.

Lofgren Auto Specialties

SuperFlow Dyno Results

Engine RPM

Corrected HP

Corrected TQ

3,000

286.6

501.8

3,500

338.6

508.0

4,000

357.8

469.8

4,500

446.4

521.0

5,000

562.3

590.6

5,100

577.2

594.4

5,200

590.2

596.1

5,300

601.8

596.3

5,400

612.3

595.5

5,500

622.8

594.7

5,600

632.2

592.9

5,700

642.8

592.2

5,800

653.7

592.0

5,900

664.2

591.2

6,000

673.4

589.5

6,100

680.9

586.2

6,200

687.7

582.6

6,300

692.5

577.3

6,400

697.1

572.0

6,500

700.8

566.3

6,600

705.7

561.5

6,700

711.6

557.8

6,800

716.2

553.2

6,900

719.9

548.0

7,000

725.4

544.2

Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1321.7

7/11<strong>Muscle Motors</strong><br />Mike Ware of Muscle Motors fought ignition problems for much of last year's challenge, so we don't know what the true potential of his entry was. Mike did make a good showing though as his entry had very broad power and torque curves.

Muscle Motors

SuperFlow Dyno Results

Engine RPM

Corrected HP

Corrected TQ

3,000

283.2

495.7

3,500

340.3

510.7

4,000

362.7

476.3

4,500

469.1

547.4

5,000

556.0

584.0

5,100

568.8

585.7

5,200

579.6

585.4

5,300

590.5

585.2

5,400

600.9

584.4

5,500

610.2

582.7

5,600

616.2

577.9

5,700

620.9

572.1

5,800

623.8

564.8

5,900

626.4

557.6

6,000

629.4

551.0

6,100

632.7

544.7

6,200

637.6

540.1

6,300

644.6

537.4

6,400

652.3

535.3

6,500

659.1

532.6

6,600

662.8

527.4

6,700

664.4

520.8

6,800

666.2

514.5

6,900

666.5

507.3

7,000

665.8

499.6

Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1252.2

8/11<strong>Indy Cylinder Head</strong><br />Although a camshaft issue limited the output of their entry, the guys at Indy made a solid showing with nearly 650 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque. Most of the competitors in last year's challenge used Indy parts of some type on their engines.

Indy Cylinder Head

SuperFlow Dyno Results

Engine RPM

Corrected HP

Corrected TQ

3,000

304.3

532.8

3,500

353.3

530.1

4,000

382.8

502.6

4,500

491.3

573.4

5,000

571.9

600.8

5,100

581.7

599.0

5,200

590.3

596.2

5,300

596.9

591.5

5,400

602.4

585.9

5,500

607.1

579.7

5,600

611.0

573.0

5,700

614.2

565.9

5,800

619.2

560.7

5,900

624.6

556.0

6,000

628.7

550.2

6,100

633.3

545.2

6,200

636.4

539.1

6,300

640.4

533.9

6,400

644.4

528.8

6,500

647.5

523.2

6,600

649.0

516.5

6,700

646.0

506.4

6,800

640.6

494.8

6,900

630.9

480.2

7,000

625.9

469.6

Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1249.8

9/11<strong>Mid America Racing Engines</strong><br />David Bruns of Mid America Racing Engines built a very strong running street engine for last year's challenge. Choosing to keep compression at a conservative 10:1 may have limited his peak numbers, but as the dyno chart shows, horsepower and torque curves were very broad for this Hemi.

Mid America Racing Engines

SuperFlow Dyno Results

Engine RPM

Corrected HP

Corrected TQ

3,000

301.1

527.2

3,500

339.5

509.5

4,000

365.0

479.3

4,500

455.0

531.0

5,000

547.5

575.1

5,100

559.6

576.3

5,200

570.9

576.6

5,300

580.1

574.9

5,400

588.3

572.2

5,500

596.4

569.5

5,600

603.3

565.9

5,700

610.7

562.7

5,800

616.8

558.5

5,900

622.1

553.8

6,000

628.0

549.7

6,100

634.8

546.5

6,200

642.7

544.4

6,300

649.9

541.8

6,400

655.1

537.6

6,500

658.3

531.9

6,600

661.4

526.3

6,700

664.1

520.6

6,800

666.0

514.4

6,900

664.5

505.8

7,000

661.7

503.9

Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1242.6

10/11All eight of this year's entrants in the engine challenge made the deadline and delivered their engines to our trailer at the Mopar Nationals where they stayed on display for the entire show.

While we can't say last year's challenge went off without a hitch, we can say that all the competitors were good sports about the challenge and were eager to help each other out when needed. All the Hemis made impressive power, and there were no catastrophic engine failures to ruin anybody's fun. The folks at Comp Cams were generous hosts, providing lunch each day and giving tours of their impressive Memphis facility to anyone interested.

This year's challenge is shaping up to be even more impressive than last year; engine builders have utilized an even wider variety of parts and building techniques for their entries. Remember the contest is based on a combined score of horsepower and torque, divided by the cost of the parts that went into the engine, so the builder who makes the most power won't necessarily be the winner. Last year, it took a blend of stout power combined with an economical parts list to land Lofgren Auto Specialties in the winner's circle.

11/11The engine builders in this year's challenge enjoyed the show and racing at the Mopar Nationals, but also made plenty of time to discuss their engines, shops, and techniques with interested spectators.

This year's dyno challenge should prove to be very interesting as we have a wide variety of parts on the wedge motors entered in the contest. Cylinder heads from Indy, Edelbrock, Bulldog, and Brodix will all be tested on Comp's Superflow engine dyno, and one competitor's engine is even sporting six-pack induction!

After the testing is complete, be sure to visit our web site where the challenge results will first be posted. Also stay tuned to future issues as we cover the challenge and also go in-depth into each engine, revealing the builder's power secrets!